July 22 – The Durtnell (Dartnell) Family of Brasted, Kent, England, begin to work as building contractors. They will still be functioning under the twelfth generation of the family, in the 21st century.[2]

The fourth of a five year run of poor harvests, largely caused by the weather, a pattern typical of the last third of the century. This causes famine throughout Europe, which leads to food riots in Britain.[7]

^ abPalmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 163–165. ISBN0-7126-5616-2.

^Emily C. Bartels (April 2006). "Too Many Blackamoors: Deportation, Discrimination, and Elizabeth I". Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900. 46 (2). Rice University: 305–322. JSTOR3844644. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth issued an 'open letter' to the Lord Mayor of London, announcing that 'there are of late divers black-moores brought into this realme, of which kinde of people there aire allready here to manie,' and ordering that they be deported from the country.

1.
15th century
–
The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian years 1400 to 1500. In Europe, the 15th century is seen as the bridge between the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the Early modern period. Many technological, social and cultural developments of the 15th century can in retrospect be seen as heralding the European miracle of the following centuries, in religious history, the Roman Papacy was split in two parts in Europe for decades, until the Council of Constance. The division of the Catholic Church and the unrest associated with the Hussite movement would become factors in the rise of the Protestant Reformation in the following century. The event forced Western Europeans to find a new route, adding further momentum to what was the beginning of the Age of Discovery. Explorations by the Spanish and Portuguese led to European sightings of the Americas and these expeditions ushered in the era of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires. The fall of Constantinople led to the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy and these two events played key roles in the development of the Renaissance. The Spanish Reconquista leads to the fall of the Emirate of Granada by the end of the century, ending over seven centuries of Muslim rule. The Hundred Years War end with a decisive French victory over the English in the Battle of Castillon, financial troubles in England following the conflict results in the Wars of the Roses, a series of dynastic wars for the throne of England. The conflicts ends with the defeat of Richard III by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field, establishing the Tudor dynasty in the later part of the century. In Asia, under the rule of the Yongle Emperor, who built the Forbidden City and commanded Zheng He to explore the world overseas, tamerlane established a major empire in the Middle East and Central Asia, in order to revive the Mongol Empire. In Africa, the spread of Islam leads to the destruction of the Christian kingdoms of Nubia, the formerly vast Mali Empire teeters on the brink of collapse, under pressure from the rising Songhai Empire. In the Americas, both the Inca Empire and the Aztec Empire reach the peak of their influence, 1400s 1401, Dilawar Khan establishes the Malwa Sultanate in present-day central India 1402, Ottoman and Timurid Empires fight at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timurs capture of Bayezid I. 1402, Sultanate of Malacca founded by Parameshwara,1403, The Yongle Emperor moves the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing. 1403, The settlement of the Canary Islands signals the beginning of the Spanish Empire, 1405–1433, Zheng He of China sails through the Indian Ocean to India, Arabia, and East Africa to spread Chinas influence and sovereignty. 1405, Paregreg war, Majapahit civil war of succession between Wikramawardhana against Wirabhumi, 1405–1407, The first voyage of Zheng He, a massive Ming dynasty naval expedition visited Java, Palembang, Malacca, Aru, Samudera and Lambri. 1410s 1410, The Battle of Grunwald is the battle of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War leading to the downfall of the Teutonic Knights. 1410–1413, Foundation of St Andrews University in Scotland,1414, Khizr Khan, deputised by Timur to be the governor of Multan, takes over Delhi founding the Sayyid dynasty

2.
16th century
–
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1500 and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600. It is regarded by historians as the century in which the rise of the West occurred, during the 16th century, Spain and Portugal explored the worlds seas and opened worldwide oceanic trade routes. In Europe, the Protestant Reformation gave a blow to the authority of the papacy. European politics became dominated by conflicts, with the groundwork for the epochal Thirty Years War being laid towards the end of the century. In Italy, Luca Pacioli published the first work ever on accounting, in United Kingdom, the Italian Alberico Gentili wrote the first book on public international law and divided secularism from canon law and Roman Catholic theology. In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire continued to expand, with the Sultan taking the title of Caliph, China evacuated the coastal areas, because of Japanese piracy. Japan was suffering a civil war at the time. Mughal Emperor Akbar extended the power of the Mughal Empire to cover most of the South Asian sub continent and his rule significantly influenced arts, and culture in the region. These events directly challenged the notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle. Polybius The Histories translated into Italian, English, German and French, medallion rug, variant Star Ushak style, Anatolia, is made. It is now kept at The Saint Louis Art Museum,1500, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain was born. 1500, Guru Nanak the beginning and spreading of the 5th largest Religion in the World Sikhism,1500, Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón encounters Brazil but is prevented from claiming it by the Treaty of Tordesillas. 1500, Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral claims Brazil for Portugal,1500, The Ottoman fleet of Kemal Reis defeats the Venetians at the Second Battle of Lepanto. 1501, Michelangelo returns to his native Florence to begin work on the statue David,1501, Safavid dynasty reunified Iran and ruled over it until 1736. Safavids adopt a Shia branch of Islam,1502, First reported African slaves in The New World 1503, Foundation of the Sultanate of Sennar by Amara Dunqas, in what is modern Sudan 1503, Spain defeats France at the Battle of Cerignola. Considered to be the first battle in history won by gunpowder small arms,1503, Leonardo da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa and completes it three years later. 1503, Nostradamus was born on either December 14, or December 21,1504, A period of drought, with famine in all of Spain. 1504, Death of Isabella I of Castile, Joanna of Castille became the Queen,1505, Zhengde Emperor ascended the throne of Ming Dynasty

3.
17th century
–
The 17th century was the century that lasted from January 1,1601, to December 31,1700, in the Gregorian calendar. The greatest military conflicts were the Thirty Years War, the Great Turkish War, in the Islamic world, the Ottoman, Safavid Persian and Mughal empires grew in strength. In Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Edo period at the beginning of the century, European politics were dominated by the Kingdom of France of Louis XIV, where royal power was solidified domestically in the civil war of the Fronde. With domestic peace assured, Louis XIV caused the borders of France to be expanded and it was during this century that English monarch became a symbolic figurehead and Parliament was the dominant force in government – a contrast to most of Europe, in particular France. It was also a period of development of culture in general,1600, On February 17 Giordano Bruno is burned at the stake by the Inquisition. 1600, Michael the Brave unifies the three Romanian countries, Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania after the Battle of Șelimbăr from 1599. 1601, Battle of Kinsale, England defeats Irish and Spanish forces at the town of Kinsale, driving the Gaelic aristocracy out of Ireland and destroying the Gaelic clan system. 1601, Michael the Brave, voivode of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, is assassinated by the order of the Habsburg general Giorgio Basta at Câmpia Turzii, 1601–1603, The Russian famine of 1601–1603 kills perhaps one-third of Russia. 1601, Panembahan Senopati, first king of Mataram, dies and passes rule to his son Panembahan Seda ing Krapyak 1601,1602, Matteo Ricci produces the Map of the Myriad Countries of the World, a world map that will be used throughout East Asia for centuries. 1602, The Portuguese send an expeditionary force from Malacca which succeeded in reimposing a degree of Portuguese control. 1602, The Dutch East India Company is established by merging competing Dutch trading companies and its success contributes to the Dutch Golden Age. 1602, Two emissaries from the Aceh Sultanate visit the Dutch Republic,1603, Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England. 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu takes the title of Shogun, establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate and this begins the Edo period, which will last until 1869. 1603–1623, After modernizing his army, Abbas I expands the Persian Empire by capturing territory from the Ottomans,1603, First permanent Dutch trading post is established in Banten, West Java. First successful VOC privateering raid on a Portuguese ship,1604, A second English East India Company voyage commanded by Sir Henry Middleton reaches Ternate, Tidore, Ambon and Banda. 1605, Gunpowder Plot failed in England,1605, The fortresses of Veszprém and Visegrad are retaken by the Ottomans. 1605, February, The VOC in alliance with Hitu prepare to attack a Portuguese fort in Ambon,1605, Panembahan Seda ing Krapyak of Mataram establishes control over Demak, former center of the Demak Sultanate. 1606, Treaty of Vienna ends anti-Habsburg uprising in Royal Hungary,1606, Assassination of Stephen Bocskay of Transylvania

4.
Maurice, Prince of Orange
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Maurice of Orange was stadtholder of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince of Orange upon the death of his eldest half-brother Philip William in 1618, Maurice spent his youth in Dillenburg in Nassau, and studied in Heidelberg and Leiden. He succeeded his father William the Silent as stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland in 1585, and became stadtholder of Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel in 1590, and of Groningen in 1620. As Captain-General and Admiral of the Union, Maurice organised the Dutch rebellion against Spain into a coherent, successful revolt, Maurice set out to revive and revise the classical doctrines of Vegetius and pioneered the new European forms of armament and drill. During the Twelve Years Truce, a dispute broke out in the Republic. After the Truce, Maurice failed to achieve more military victories and he died without legitimate children in The Hague in 1625, and was succeeded by his younger half-brother Frederick Henry. Maurice was a son of William the Silent and Princess Anna of Saxony and was born at the castle of Dillenburg and he was named after his maternal grandfather, the Elector Maurice of Saxony, who was also a noted general. Maurice never married but was the father of children by Margaretha van Mechelen. He was raised in Dillenburg by his uncle Johan of Nassau, together with his cousin Willem Lodewijk he studied in Heidelberg and later in Leiden where he met Simon Stevin. The States of Holland and Zeeland paid for his studies, as their father had run into problems after spending his entire fortune in the early stages of the Dutch revolt. Only 16 when his father was murdered in Delft in 1584, he took over as stadtholder. The monarchs of England and France had been requested to accept sovereignty and this had left Maurice as the only acceptable candidate for the position of Stadtholder. He became stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland in 1585, of Guelders, Overijssel and Utrecht in 1590 and of Groningen, protestant Maurice was preceded as Prince of Orange by his Roman Catholic eldest half-brother Philip William, Prince of Orange, deceased 1618. However, Philip William was in the custody of Spain, remaining so until 1596 and he was appointed captain-general of the army in 1587, bypassing the Earl of Leicester, who returned to England on hearing this news. Maurice organised the rebellion against Spain into a coherent, successful revolt, the Eighty Years War was a challenge to his style, so he could prove himself a good leader by taking several Spanish Outposts. In 1597 he went on an offensive and took Rheinberg, Meurs, Groenlo, Bredevoort, Enschede, Ootmarsum, Oldenzaal. These victories rounded out the borders to the Dutch Republic, solidifying the revolt and they also established Maurice as the foremost general of his time. Many of the generals of the succeeding generation, including his brother Frederick Henry

5.
Capture of Breda (1590)
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Using a clever tactic reminiscent of the Trojan horse a small assault force hid in a peat barge entered the city of Breda and proceeded to take it over resulting in a minimum number of casualties. It was the point of the war as the forces under Maurice were able to take the offensive. The city of Breda was located in the confluence of the rivers Aa and Mark, in the province of Brabant and it was well fortified, and was surrounded by a defensive moat fed by waters of the Mark river. Eduardo Lanzavecchia, the governor of Breda and Geertruidenberg was supervising the construction of fortifications of cities as he knew that soon they would be under attack. He was in Geertruidenberg in early 1590 supervising the construction of the defenses there but in his absence, in February 1590, a nobleman from Cambrai, Charles de Heraugiere under orders from Maurice of Nassau was to make a covert reconnoiter of Breda. Disguised as a fisherman he was hoping to enter Breda and to study its weaknesses, garrison strength and general conditions. Heraugiere contacted Adrian van den Berg, loyal to the Dutch by trade who was used to entering and leaving Breda with a barge loaded of winter fuel, in this case peat. Heraugiere went into the city, hidden between the peat of the barge along with a group of soldiers, but they discovered how incredibly easy it was as none of the garrison checked the barge. When they were in the heart of Breda they made a hasty exit with enough peat to keep them covered, Heraugiere soon realized a Trojan Horse style attack was too good an opportunity to miss and thus reported it to Maurice as soon as they returned. The plan was presented to Maurice of Nassau, who was glad to give its approval and then ordered the operation the go ahead, on the 25th of February Charles de Heraugiere was to lead the covert assault in charge of sixty eight hand picked Dutch and English soldiers. They waited next to the mouth of the Mark river for the arrival of the boat of Adriaen van Bergen and accompanied captains Logier, Fervet and Lieutenant Matthew Held. That same day Maurice of Nassau, Francis Vere and Count Hohenlohe with 800 Dutch and 600 English soldiers with 300 of cavalry arrived at Willemstad, there they would have to wait for the warning of Heraugiere if all had gone well. On the 26th Heraugiere and their men embarked on van Bergens boat, by Saturday evening however they had reached Breda and were at the outer gates early in the morning. Hidden under the peat, they were able to enter the city with none of the soldiers checking. Having deceived the soldiers of the garrison Heraugiere gave out the signal to Maurice. In a fast action, that took by surprise the Italian soldiers garrisoning the city, so surprised were the Italians and Spanish that they dispersed into a total rout into the streets of the city. Before dawn, count Hohenlohe arrived at the doors of Breda with the Dutch cavalry and after him Maurice of Nassau with the body of the army, Count Solms. By then the men of Heraugiere had already taken control of most the city, the citizens who wanted to leave the city would be respected in terms of religion

6.
Breda
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Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark, as a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance. Breda had a population of 180,420 in 2014, the area had a population of 324,812. In the 11th century, Breda was a fief of the Holy Roman Emperor. The city of Breda obtained a charter in 1252. After that Breda had the rights to build fortifications, the city constructed brick walls and Roman-style gates. In 1327 Adelheid of Gaveren Breda sold Breda to Duke Johannes III of Brabant, in 1350, the fief was resold to Johannes II of Wassenaar. In 1403 the heiress of his line, Johanna of Polanen, thus, the baron of Breda was also count of Nassau, Germany, prince of Orange and stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. Breda remained part of the barony Breda until it was taken by French revolutionary forces in 1795, the acquisition of the city by the House of Orange-Nassau marked its emergence as a residentiestad. The presence of the Orange-Nassau family attracted other nobles, who built palatial residences in the old quarters of the city. The most impressive one, built by the Italian architect Thomas Vincidor de Bologna for the first Dutch prince, was the first renaissance-style palace built north of the Alps, in the 15th century the citys physical, economic and strategic importance expanded rapidly. A great church was built in Brabantine Gothic style with a gallant 97-metre-high tower, in 1534 Henry III of Nassau-Breda rebuilt the modest medieval fortifications in impressive style. In 1534 a fire destroyed over 90 percent of the city, close to 1300 houses, churches and chapels, only 150 houses and the main church remained. In July 1581, during the Eighty Years War, Breda was captured by surprise by Spanish troops then under the command of Claudius van Barlaymont, although the city had surrendered upon the condition that it would not be plundered, the troops vented their fury upon the inhabitants. In the resulting mayhem, known as Haultpennes Fury, over 500 citizens were killed, the so-called Spaniards Hole marks the spot where the peat-boat allegedly lay, although this has not been historically proven. After a ten-month siege in 1624–25, the city surrendered to the Spaniards under Spinola, in 1637 Breda was recaptured by Frederick Henry of Orange after a four-month siege, and in 1648 it was finally ceded to the Dutch Republic by the Treaty of Westphalia. The Treaty of Breda was signed in the city, July 31,1667, during World War II the city was under German occupation. It was liberated following a successful outflanking manoeuvre planned and performed by forces of 1st Polish Armoured Division of Gen. Maczek on October 29,1944

7.
Henry IV of France
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Henry IV, also known by the epithet Good King Henry, was King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon, baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother Jeanne dAlbret, Queen of Navarre, he inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on the death of his mother. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomews Day massacre, and later led Protestant forces against the royal army. Henry, as Head of the House of Bourbon, was a direct descendant of Louis IX of France. Upon the death of his brother-in-law and distant cousin Henry III of France in 1589 and he initially kept the Protestant faith and had to fight against the Catholic League, which denied that he could wear Frances crown as a Protestant. To obtain mastery over his kingdom, after four years of stalemate, as a pragmatic politician, he displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the era. Notably, he promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants and he was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII. Considered a usurper by some Catholics and a traitor by some Protestants, an unpopular king immediately after his accession, Henrys popularity greatly improved after his death, in light of repeated victories over his enemies and his conversion to Catholicism. The Good King Henry was remembered for his geniality and his concern about the welfare of his subjects. He was celebrated in the popular song Vive le roi Henri, Henry was born in Pau, the capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother, who had declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion, on 9 June 1572, upon his mothers death, he became King of Navarre. At Queen Joans death, it was arranged for Henry to marry Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II, the wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral. On 24 August, the Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre began in Paris, several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for Henrys wedding were killed, as well as thousands more throughout the country in the days that followed. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife and he was made to live at the court of France, but he escaped in early 1576. On 5 February of that year, he formally abjured Catholicism at Tours and he named his 16-year-old sister, Catherine de Bourbon, regent of Béarn. Catherine held the regency for nearly thirty years, Henry became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Francis, Duke of Anjou, brother and heir to the Catholic Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henry of Navarre was the senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice

8.
Catholic League (French)
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The Catholic League of France, sometimes referred to by contemporary Catholics as the Holy League, was a major participant in the French Wars of Religion. Pope Sixtus V, Philip II of Spain, and the Jesuits were all supporters of this Catholic party, confraternities and leagues were established by French Catholics to counter the growing power of the Lutherans, Calvinists and members of the Reformed Church of France. The Protestant Calvinists at that time dominated much of the French nobility, under the leadership of Henry I, Duke of Guise, the Catholic confraternities and leagues were united as the Catholic League. Guise used the League not only to defend the Catholic cause, the Catholic League aimed to preempt any seizure of power by the Huguenots and to protect French Catholics right to worship. The Catholic Leagues cause was fueled by the doctrine Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, Catholic Leaguers saw their fight against Calvinism as a Crusade against heresy. The Leagues pamphleteers also blamed any natural disaster occurred in France at the time as Gods way of punishing France for tolerating the existence of the Calvinist heresy. After a series of clashes, the French Wars of Religion, between Catholics and Protestants, the Catholic League formed in an attempt to break the power of the Calvinist gentry once. The Catholic League saw the French throne under Henry III as too conciliatory towards the Huguenots, the League, similar to hardline Calvinists, disapproved of Henry IIIs attempts to mediate any coexistence between the Huguenots and Catholics. The Catholic League also saw moderate French Catholics, known as Politiques, the Politiques were tired of the many tit for tat killings and were willing to negotiate peaceful coexistence rather than escalating the war. The League immediately began to pressure on Henry III of France. Faced with this opposition he canceled the Peace of La Rochelle, re-criminalizing Protestantism. However, Henry also saw the danger posed by the Duke of Guise, in the Day of the Barricades, King Henry III was forced to flee Paris, which resulted in Henry, Duke of Guise becoming the de facto ruler of France. Afraid of being deposed and assassinated, the King decided to strike first, on December 23,1588, Henry IIIs guardsmen assassinated the Duke and his brother, Louis II and the Dukes son was imprisoned in the Bastille. However, this move did little to consolidate the Kings power, as a result, the King fled Paris and joined forces with Henry of Navarre, the thrones Calvinist heir presumptive. Both the King and Henry of Navarre began building an army with which to besiege Paris and this was retaliation for the killing of the Duke of Guise and his brother. As he lay dying, the King begged Henry of Navarre to convert to Catholicism, however, the Kings death threw the army into disarray and Henry of Navarre was forced to lift the siege. Although Henry of Navarre was now the legitimate King of France, using arms and military advisors provided by Elizabeth I of England, he achieved several military victories. However, he was unable to overcome the forces of the League

9.
Anne of Denmark
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Anne of Denmark was Queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I. The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at age 15, Anne appears to have loved James at first, but the couple gradually drifted and eventually lived apart, though mutual respect and a degree of affection survived. In England, Anne shifted her energies from factional politics to patronage of the arts and constructed her own magnificent court, after 1612, she suffered sustained bouts of ill health and gradually withdrew from the centre of court life. Though she was reported to have been a Protestant at the time of her death, historians have traditionally dismissed Anne as a lightweight queen, frivolous and self-indulgent. However, recent reappraisals acknowledge Annes assertive independence and, in particular, Anne was born on 12 December 1574 at the castle of Skanderborg on the Jutland Peninsula in the Kingdom of Denmark. Her birth came as a blow to her father, King Frederick II of Denmark, but her mother, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, was only 17, three years later she did bear Frederick a son, the future Christian IV of Denmark. With her older sister, Elizabeth, Anne was sent to be raised at Güstrow in Germany by her maternal grandparents, the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg. Christian was also sent to be brought up at Güstrow but two later, in 1579, the Rigsraad successfully requested his removal to Denmark, and Anne. Anne enjoyed a close, happy family upbringing in Denmark, thanks largely to Queen Sophie, James other serious possibility, though 8 years his senior, was Catherine, sister of the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre, who was favoured by Elizabeth I of England. The constitutional position of Sophie, Annes mother, became difficult after Fredericks death in 1588, when she found herself in a power struggle with the Rigsraad for control of King Christian. As a matchmaker, however, Sophie proved more diligent than Frederick and, overcoming sticking points on the amount of the dowry, Anne herself seems to have been thrilled with the match. Whatever the truth of the rumours, James required a match to preserve the Stuart line. On 20 August 1589, Anne was married by proxy to James at Kronborg Castle, Anne set sail for Scotland within 10 days, but her fleet was beset by a series of misadventures. Finally being forced back to the coast of Norway, from where she travelled by land to Oslo for refuge, accompanied by the Earl Marischal and others of the Scottish and Danish embassies. According to a Scottish account, he presented himself to Anne, with boots and all, Anne and James were formally married at the Old Bishops Palace in Oslo on 23 November 1589, with all the splendour possible at that time and place. So that both bride and groom could understand, Leith minister David Lindsay conducted the ceremony in French and she giveth great contentment to his Majesty. The couple moved on to Copenhagen on 7 March and attended the wedding of Annes older sister Elizabeth to Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick and they arrived in the Water of Leith on 1 May. Five days later, Anne made her entry into Edinburgh in a solid silver coach brought over from Denmark

10.
Kingdom of Scotland
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The Kingdom of Scotland was a state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843, which joined with the Kingdom of England to form a unified Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the third of the island of Great Britain. It suffered many invasions by the English, but under Robert I it fought a war of independence. In 1603, James VI of Scotland became King of England, in 1707, the two kingdoms were united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain under the terms of the Acts of Union. The Crown was the most important element of government, the Scottish monarchy in the Middle Ages was a largely itinerant institution, before Edinburgh developed as a capital city in the second half of the 15th century. The Scottish Crown adopted the conventional offices of western European courts, Parliament also emerged as a major legal institution, gaining an oversight of taxation and policy, but was never as central to the national life as its counterpart in England. In the 17th century, the creation of Justices of Peace, the continued existence of courts baron and the introduction of kirk sessions helped consolidate the power of local lairds. Scots law developed into a system in the Middle Ages and was reformed and codified in the 16th and 17th centuries. Under James IV the legal functions of the council were rationalised, in 1532, the College of Justice was founded, leading to the training and professionalisation of lawyers. David I is the first Scottish king known to have produced his own coinage, Early Scottish coins were virtually identical in silver content to English ones, but from about 1300 their silver content began to depreciate more rapidly than the English coins. At the union of the Crowns in 1603 the Scottish pound was fixed at only one-twelfth the value of the English pound, the Bank of Scotland issued pound notes from 1704. Scottish currency was abolished by the Act of Union, Scotland is half the size of England and Wales in area, but has roughly the same length of coastline. Geographically Scotland is divided between the Highlands and Islands and the Lowlands, the Highlands had a relatively short growing season, which was further shortened during the Little Ice Age. From Scotlands foundation to the inception of the Black Death, the population had grown to a million, following the plague and it expanded in the first half of the 16th century, reaching roughly 1.2 million by the 1690s. Significant languages in the kingdom included Gaelic, Old English, Norse and French. Christianity was introduced into Scotland from the 6th century, in the Norman period the Scottish church underwent a series of changes that led to new monastic orders and organisation. During the 16th century, Scotland underwent a Protestant Reformation that created a predominately Calvinist national kirk, there were a series of religious controversies that resulted in divisions and persecutions. The Scottish Crown developed naval forces at various points in its history, Land forces centred around the large common army, but adopted European innovations from the 16th century, and many Scots took service as mercenaries and as soldiers for the English Crown

11.
Holyrood Abbey
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Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I, during the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded further. The abbey church was used as a church until the 17th century. The remaining walls of the abbey lie adjacent to the palace, the site of the abbey is protected as a scheduled monument. Rood is an old word for the cross which Jesus Christ was crucified upon, thus the name Holyrood is equivalent to Holy Cross. Legend relates that in 1127, while King David I was hunting in the forests to the east of Edinburgh during the Feast of the Cross, as an act of thanksgiving for his escape, David I founded Holyrood Abbey on the site in 1128. In the church was preserved, in a reliquary, the fragment of the True Cross brought by Davids mother, St. Margaret, from Waltham Abbey. At the battle of Nevilles Cross, in 1346, this precious relic fell into the hands of the English, in 1177 the papal legate Vivian held council here. In 1189 the nobles and prelates of Scotland met here to discuss raising a ransom for William the Lion, the original abbey church of Holyrood was largely reconstructed between 1195 and 1230. The completed building consisted of a six-bay aisled choir, three-bay transepts with a tower above. Some scholars believe the high vaults to be sexpartite a design that was probably archaic at the period and they were probably plastered, with exposed thin ribs. Among the chief benefactors of Holyrood during the four centuries of its existence as a house were Kings David I and II, Robert, Bishop of St. Andrews. The Parliament of Scotland met at the abbey in 1256,1285,1327,1366,1384,1389 and 1410, in 1326 Robert the Bruce held parliament here and there is evidence that Holyrood was being used as a royal residence by 1329. The Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, which brought an end to the First War of Scottish Independence, was signed by Robert I in the Kings Chamber at Holyrood in March 1328. The abbeys position close to Edinburgh Castle meant that it was visited by Scotlands kings. James II and his twin brother Alexander, Duke of Rothesay, were there in October 1430. James was also crowned at Holyrood in 1437 and building works were carried out before his marriage there in 1449, between 1498 and 1501, James IV constructed a royal palace at Holyrood, adjacent to the abbey cloister. Royal influence over the abbey further increased when in 1538 Robert Stewart, during the War of the Rough Wooing, the invading English armies of the Earl of Hertford inflicted structural damage on Holyrood Abbey in 1544 and 1547

12.
John White (colonist and artist)
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John White was an English artist and early pioneer of English efforts to settle North America. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to the shore of present-day North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist, during his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape and the native Algonkin peoples. In 1587, White became governor of Sir Walter Raleighs failed attempt at a permanent settlement on Roanoke Island and this was the earliest effort to establish a permanent English colony in the New World. Whites granddaughter Virginia Dare was the first English child born in the Western Hemisphere, John Whites exact date of birth is unknown but it seems likely he was born some time between 1540 and 1550. There is a record dated February 22,1539, of a christening in the Church of St Augustine, London, of a John White on that same day, White is known to have attended church in the parish of St. Martin Ludgate in London. In 1566 he married Tomasyn Cooper, with whom he had a son, Tom, who died young, little is known of Whites training as an artist but it is possible that he apprenticed as an illustrator under a London master. In the late sixteenth century efforts to establish an English colony in the New World began to gain momentum, in 1585 White accompanied the expedition led by Sir Ralph Lane to attempt to found the first English colony in North America. In 1585 White had been commissioned to draw to life the inhabitants of the New World, during Whites time at Roanoke Island, he completed numerous watercolor drawings of the surrounding landscape and native peoples. They represent the visual record of the native inhabitants of America encountered by Englands first settlers. Whites enthusiasm for watercolor was unusual - most contemporary painters preferred to use oil-based paints, Whites watercolors would soon become a sensation in Europe, it was not long before the watercolors were engraved by the Flemish master engraver Theodore de Bry. Through the medium of print, the illustrations became widely known and distributed and his efforts did not go unrewarded, on January 7,1587, Raleigh named “John White of London Gentleman, to be the chief Governor” of the new colony. White, with thirteen others, were incorporated under the name of “The Governor, in May 1587 Whites colonists sailed for Virginia in the Lion. They were guided by the Portuguese navigator Simon Fernandez, the pilot who had led the 1585 expedition. The settlers chosen destination was not Roanoke but the Chesapeake Bay, but, upon reaching Roanoke in late July, and allowing the colonists to disembark, Fernandez refused to let Whites men re-board ship. According to Whites journal, Fernandezs deputy called to the sailors in the pinesse, charging them not to bring any of the planters back againe, but leave them on the island. Faced with what amounted to a mutiny by his navigator, White appears to have backed down, despite the governors protests, Fernandez held that summer was farre spent, wherefore hee would land all the planters in no other place. This second colony at Roanoke set about repairing the structures left behind in 1585 and they also searched for the fifteen men left behind by the previous expedition, but found only bones. From an early stage there were tensions with the local Algonkin Indians, on August 8,1587, White led a dawn attack on the Dasamongueponkes that went disastrously wrong

Maurice of Orange (Dutch: Maurits van Oranje) (14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was stadtholder of all the provinces …

Image: School of Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt 001

Maurice as a child

The Cavalcade of princes of the House of Orange and Nassau, 1. Front Row: Maurice (1567–1625), Philip William (1558–1618), Frederick Henry (1584–1647), 2. Second Row: William Louis (1560–1632), Ernst Casimir (1573–1632) und Johann Ernst. after a print by W. J. Delff (1621) after a painting from A. P. van de Venne

Maurice and his followers on the Vijverberg, The Hague. Adam van Breen, 1618.